"Tens of thousands of Yemenis have taken part in a demonstration in the centre of the capital Sanaa to show support for the Houthi-led bloc as the head of the group's new governing council vowed to form a full government in the coming days. In what appeared to be a response to the Houthi show of force, ambassadors from the Group of 18 nations -- which has backed United Nations peace talks to end Yemen's civil war -- issued a statement condemning 'unconstitutional and unilateral actions in Sanaa.' ... The demonstration -- one of the biggest in Yemen since the civil war broke out last year -- took place as a Saudi-led coalition backing exiled President Abd-Rabbou Mansour Hadi stepped up air strikes and fighting on the ground intensified." (08/21/16)

"At least 20 people have been killed and several others wounded in twin suicide blasts in the central Somali town of Galkayo, according to a Somali health official. The first vehicle explosion on Sunday targeted the local government headquarters; the second targeted emergency services at the scene of the first blast. ... Al-Shabab, the armed group fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, claimed responsibility for the blasts." (08/21/16)

"Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday he did not rule out introducing martial law and a new wave of military mobilization if the conflict with pro-Russian separatists [sic] worsened. Poroshenko made his comments as fresh tension with Russia over Crimea reignited fears that a fragile ceasefire deal hammered out in the Belarussian capital Minsk in February 2015 could collapse following the deadliest month of fighting in a year. ... Since 2014, Ukraine's pro-Western leadership has announced several waves of mobilization, calling up Ukrainian men to join the military in its [invasions of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics]. Earlier on Thursday, the Ukrainian military reported that three servicemen had been killed and six wounded in fighting over the past 24 hours." (08/18/16)

"Russia used Iran as a base from which to launch air strikes against Syrian militants for the first time on Tuesday, widening its air campaign in Syria and deepening its involvement in the Middle East. In a move underscoring Moscow's increasingly close ties with Tehran, long-range Russian Tupolev-22M3 bombers and Sukhoi-34 fighter bombers used Iran's Hamadan air base to strike a range of targets in Syria. It was the first time Russia has used the territory of another nation, apart from Syria itself, to launch such strikes since the Kremlin launched a bombing campaign to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in September last year." (08/16/16)

"Palestinian medical officials say Israeli military fire wounded more than 25 people near the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday. The Red Crescent reports that potentially deadly fire had struck at least 10 of the people and the rest were shot with nominally nonlethal rubber bullets. A large convoy of Israeli military vehicles had entered al-Fawwar camp, near the flashpoint city of Hebron, witnesses said. A spokeswoman said the military fired to prevent a riot from escalating. The spokeswoman said the troops had conducted 'activity to uncover weaponry' in the camp when 'dozens of Palestinians hurled IEDs (improvised explosive devices), blocks and rocks' at them." (08/16/16)

"Syria's rebel-held, northwestern Idlib province came under heavy bombardment Sunday, activists reported, as rebels and pro-government forces battled for control of the nearby city of Aleppo. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 26 airstrikes across the province, one of the last remaining bastions of rebel control. ... The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said Russian jets struck the towns of Jisr al-Shaghour and Binnish, while the Observatory reported strikes on the provincial capital, Idlib. It was unclear how the activists identified the planes. Moscow has been waging an air campaign in support of government forces for nearly a year." (08/14/16)

"Libyan forces battling to oust Islamic State (IS) from Sirte said they captured its university complex on Wednesday as well as the Ouagadougou Convention Complex in Sirte that ISIS had been using as a base but lost one of their warplanes over the city. ... Forces aligned with Libya's U.N.-backed government launched their campaign for Sirte in May. On Aug. 1, the United States began air strikes to help them advance against militants encircled in the center of the Mediterranean coastal city." (08/10/16)

"The elected President of the Republic of Luhansk in what used to be eastern Ukraine barely survived an assassination attempt when a bomb exploded underneath his car. He has been seriously injured. There seems little doubt that this was the work of the SBU, the notorious Ukrainian secret police outfit that has been implicated in a series of mysterious attacks and 'suicides' that have killed opposition journalists and politicians in recent months. Unable to put down the popular rebellion in the east, the coup leaders in Kiev have resorted to terrorism -- which is fitting, since fighters formerly affiliated with ISIS are now in their ranks. Just as the Serbian 'Black Hand' murdered the Archduke and set off World War I, so the ultra-nationalist Ukrainians -- just as crazy as their Serbian counterparts of a century ago -- may have sparked World War III." (08/08/16)

"Investigators in Afghanistan are searching for an American and an Australian who were kidnapped in western Kabul, the city's police chief told CNN. The two men, lecturers at the American University of Afghanistan, were kidnapped Sunday evening when two gunmen stopped the car they were riding in, an Afghan security official told CNN. One assailant broke the passenger-side window with his gun and took the two men away. A driver and bodyguard were left unhurt, the official said. There has been no claim of responsibility." (08/08/16)

"After months of being pummeled from the air and by Syrian artillery, an Islamist-led rebel coalition has made a dramatic breakthrough in relieving the siege of Aleppo, Syria's largest city. Their assault -- the first test for a new group born out of al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate -- appears to have taken the exhausted Syrian army by surprise. ... The rebel offensive has been led by Jabhat Fateh al Sham, formerly the al Nusra Front. Two weeks ago, al Nusra very publicly declared it was breaking its long-standing ties with al Qaeda to build closer alliances with other jihadist and rebel groups in Syria." (08/07/16)

"Peace talks held by UN in Kuwait to bring an end to the civil war [sic] in Yemen have been stalled for a period of one month. UN envoy to Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said the consultations held in Kuwait had cleared the way for a deal 'which we hope to see soon.' That the talks saw contending parties sitting together at the negotiating table was 'an accomplishment in itself,' said Ahmed explaining that the major obstacle to the talks was the lack of confidence among the Yemeni parties." (07/08/16)

"A car bomb targeting security forces in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi killed at least 22 people and wounded 20 on Tuesday, a commander of the forces and medical officials said. The blast occurred in a residential area in the Guwarsha district, the scene of fighting between security forces loyal to Libya's eastern government and an alliance of Islamists and other opponents. The alliance, the Shura Council of Benghazi Revolutionaries, said it had carried out the attack, according to a statement posted on media sites linked to the group. It claimed that 28 people were killed and as many as 70 wounded." (08/02/16)

"A Russian helicopter was shot down Monday after delivering aid to the Syrian city of Aleppo, killing all five crew members on board, Russian state media reported. The Russian Defense Ministry said the Mi-8 helicopter was shot down by ground fire in Idlib province as it returned to base, state TV reported." (08/01/16)

"Afghan authorities say an overnight attack on a Kabul guesthouse for foreign contractors that was claimed by the Taliban left one policeman dead and four wounded. The Interior Ministry says 'terrorists' used a truck full of explosives to breach the guesthouse wall of the Northgate Hotel around 1:30 a.m. on Monday. Three gunmen then entered the premises and started shooting. ... The Taliban issued a statement claiming responsibility, saying they had sent heavily armed operatives as part of the attack. Abdul Rahman Rahimi, the Kabul chief of police, says the attackers were killed and none of the hotel's residents were harmed." (08/01/16)

"The U.S. began a new campaign of airstrikes in Libya on Monday, four defense officials told NBC News. The strikes will target ISIS in and around Sirte, a city halfway between Tripoli and Benghazi that has become an ISIS stronghold in the country, the officials said." (08/01/16)

"Yemen rebels [sic] today rejected a peace plan proposed by the United Nations which had already been accepted by the government [sic], saying that any settlement must first tackle a unity administration. ... The Iran-backed rebels [sic] reiterated their long-standing demand that a peace deal must first forge an accord on a new consensual executive authority, including a new president and government. This condition is an explicit demand for the removal of [Saudi puppet ruler] Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi." (07/31/16)

"Syrian and Russian forces are to open humanitarian corridors for people to flee the besieged city of Aleppo, both countries' state media reported Thursday, the day after Syria's army announced it had encircled the city and cut off rebel supply routes. Three relief corridors would be set up to distribute food and medical aid to civilians in a 'large-scale humanitarian operation,' Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said, while a fourth would be established in northern Aleppo for rebels who wished to lay down arms and surrender, according to Russian state media."

"A suicide bombing killed 48 people, among them women and children, Wednesday in northern Syria, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A truck bomb exploded near buildings belonging to a Kurdish security agency and other governmental departments in the city of Qamishli near the border with Turkey, CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reported." (07/27/16)

"After the Iraq War, there was a fairly general sense that the war had been a mistake. There was a sense of remorse over a needless cost of 1000s of American lives, and even more Iraqis. I'm going to predict that if and when pot and kidney sales are legalized, and widely accepted to be the right policy, there will be no similar sense of remorse. Supporters of the war on drugs will not feel a sense of remorse that 1000s were imprisoned for no good reason. If that sense of remorse were going to show up, I'd already expect it to be in evidence by now. ... If kidney sales are legalized, many 1000s of lives will be saved each year. These will be people who now die due to the influence of lobbies such as the AMA. If kidney sales are later legalized, and the policy is seen as working, will the AMA feel a sense of remorse? I doubt it, but I'm not sure why." (07/26/16)

"At least 13 people were killed when two vehicles packed with explosives went off as they were driven towards a base for African Union troops in the Somali capital, according to officials and witnesses. The first blast happened near an entrance to the base, which is beside Mogadishu's main airport, and the second at a nearby checkpoint manned by Somali government forces. ... The al-Shabab armed group told Al Jazeera it was responsible for the attack." (07/26/16)

"A suicide bomber attacked a security check point in northern Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 14 people, Iraqi officials said. The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his device at one of the busy entrances of the Shiite district of Kadhimiyah, killing at least 10 civilians and four police officers, a police officer said. At least 31 other people were wounded, he added." (07/24/16)

"Twin explosions targeting a large demonstration by members of Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara minority in Kabul have killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 230, officials have said. The attack on Saturday, near one of the most heavily fortified areas of the Afghan capital, was quickly claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), who have previously targeted the Hazara people. 'Two fighters from Islamic State detonated explosive belts at a gathering of Shi'ites in... the city of Kabul in Afghanistan,' Amaq, an ISIL-linked website, said." (07/23/16)

"Three French soldiers have died in Libya after their helicopter was shot down, President Francois Hollande says. The soldiers were killed while carrying out 'dangerous intelligence operations,' Mr Hollande said. Earlier on Wednesday, French defence ministry spokesman Stephane Le Foll confirmed for the first time that its special forces were in Libya. On Tuesday, Associated Press quoted Libyan officials as saying an Islamist militia shot down a French helicopter." ()7/20/16)

"Authorities say gunmen have killed at least 10 soldiers and wounded 38 in an attack on an army camp in Mali. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack early Tuesday in the city of Nampala. An official with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali said the attackers arrived on dozens of pickup trucks and motorcycles and took control of the city before leaving." (07/19/16)

"A defiant Bashar al-Assad expressed confidence that Syria's bloody war could be won within months, saying Russia's intervention has helped tip the scales toward victory. Assad spoke exclusively to NBC News on Wednesday at his office in Damascus in a wide-ranging interview about the Syrian war, ISIS, the U.S. and his legacy. He was unruffled by the State Department branding his vow to retake every inch of Syria as 'delusional,' saying it was only a matter of time until he regained full control of his country. ... according to Assad, the 'very frank' relationship he has with [Vladimir] Putin is rooted in their shared values and common interest: defeating terrorists. The Syrian president claimed that's far from true of the U.S., which he accused of not truly wanting to see ISIS'[s] defeat. 'They're not serious,' Assad said." (07/14/16)